1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an attaching device for attaching an element such as a socket member of a snap fastener to a material such as a garment, and more particularly to such an attaching device including a cap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are known attaching devices of the type described which include a hollow cylindrical stem having on one end a flange with a cap mounted theron. For mounting a socket member of a snap fastener on a garment, the other end of the cylindrical stem pierces the garment and then such other end of the cylindrical stem is deformed and staked on the socket member. When the end of the stem is to be staked on the socket member, a tool is employed to press the stem under an impact force applied axially toward the flange or cap. The impact force imposed on the stem, however, tends to deform the flanged end thereof which then results in undesirable deformations on the cap. The deformed cap on the socket member greatly reduces the commercial value of the snap fastener assembly mounted on the garment.
To solve such a problem, there has been devised an attaching device as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 56-174509 published Dec. 23, 1981. The disclosed attaching device comprises a post including a flange or an annular seat having a plurality of radial tongues cut out of the flange from an outer peripheral edge thereof toward the center. Each of the cutout tongues includes a first bent portion projecting toward a cap mounted on the flange and a second bent portion contiguous to the first bent portion and bent back toward the center over the first bent portion. The second bent portions have surfaces facing the cap and lying flush with the surface of the flange which confronts the cap. The attaching post also has a plurality of locking prongs held in axial alignment with the tongues. When the attaching post is to be attached to a socket member of a snap fastener across a garment material, the locking prongs are individually staked on the socket member with a force applied axially of the post. In such a deforming process, the bent tongues serve to take up the imposed force transmitted through the locking prongs. Therefore, if there were no such locking prongs axially aligned with the bent tongues, the applied force would deform the flange and hence the cap. Formation of the bent tongues and locking prongs on the flange has involved an increased number of manufacturing steps and resulted in expensive snap fasteners.